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Ryan Gentry Pitts

Age : 24

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 03/15/2022

Location : Hillside Road and Mile Tree Road

City : Bay View Gardens / Spring Bay area

County : Woodford

State : Illinois

Agency : Woodford County Sheriff's Office

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Passenger killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

REASON FOR CHASE: Passenger killed after the UTV in which Pitts was riding struck a Woodford County Sheriff's Office squad car near Santa Fe Trail and Spring Bay Road and fled from police.
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NARRATIVE:
On 03/15/2022, 24-year-old Ryan Gentry Pitts of East Peoria was killed while riding as a passenger in a utility terrain vehicle driven by 25-year-old Kenneth Brinkley of Spring Bay during a police-related flight and crash in Woodford County, Illinois.
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The incident occurred shortly after midnight. Illinois State Police subsequently reported that the UTV struck a Woodford County Sheriff's Office squad car near Santa Fe Trail and Spring Bay Road. The UTV then left the scene with Pitts riding as a passenger.
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Witnesses reported seeing the UTV travel through a cornfield and onto the roadway. It crossed the intersection of Hillside and Mile Tree roads, left the roadway again and struck a tree in front of a residence. The UTV was found overturned near Hillside and Mile Tree roads.
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Pitts was pronounced dead at the scene. Woodford County Coroner Tim Ruestman subsequently determined that Pitts died from blunt-force trauma sustained in the crash. Brinkley survived with injuries described as non-life-threatening.
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Pitts had worked as an apprentice plumber for Prather Plumbing in Eureka. His family and friends described him as an outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing, hunting, riding his four-wheeler and off-roading. His obituary confirms his full name, age, East Peoria residence and March 15 death in rural Woodford County.
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The available public reporting does not provide a reliable maximum speed, exact distance or duration between the collision with the sheriff's squad car and the fatal crash.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Woodford County Sheriff's Office did not publicly identify the officer associated with the squad car or the officer(s) involved in the pursuit in the sources located.
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SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.wcbu.org/local-news/2022-03-22/police-driver-in-fatal-woodford-county-utv-incident-fled-authorities-before-crash
https://www.25newsnow.com/2022/03/21/fatal-woodford-county-utv-crash-last-week-may-have-followed-police-pursuit/
https://www.25newsnow.com/2022/03/16/spring-bay-man-arrested-charged-connection-with-death-east-peoria-man/
https://www.25newsnow.com/2022/09/26/woodford-county-man-found-guilty-deadly-utv-accident/
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/creve-coeur-il/ryan-pitts-10631184